Evolution is often challenging for high school students to understand because it encompasses an array of interlinked processes that occur across a broad swath of biological scales. To help address this, we have developed a set of freely accessible, online, and interactive lessons that focus on the evolution of sweet garden peas from their starchy tasting ancestors. Gregor Mendel first explored the genetics of garden peas in the mid-1800s; our materials help students explore the basis of the R and r alleles from genetic, protein, cell function, artificial selection, and population genetics perspectives. These Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS)–linked lessons integrate concepts across scales and are designed to be used in a flexible order, with support provided to teachers on how to choose a sequence that meets their students' needs. Throughout, students act as scientists as they uncover how multiple processes at disparate scales all worked together in the evolution of sweet and wrinkled peas from ancestors that were starchy and round.
How to translate text using browser tools
16 February 2023
Connected Biology: Applying an Integrative and Technology-Enhanced Approach to the Teaching and Learning of Evolution in Mendel's Peas
Rebecca Ellis,
Louise Mead,
Frieda Reichsman,
Kiley McElroy-Brown,
James Smith,
Peter White
ACCESS THE FULL ARTICLE
It is not available for individual sale.
This article is only available to subscribers.
It is not available for individual sale.
It is not available for individual sale.
The American Biology Teacher
Vol. 85 • No. 2
February 2023
Vol. 85 • No. 2
February 2023
evolution
evolution education
Genetics
Mendel's peas
NGSS